Army-Navy Preview

By Alex Lauzon from the “Course of Life” podcast

The second Saturday in December is here, and it’s a collectively deep exhale for college football fans. For the better part of three months our Saturdays have been loaded with four windows chock full of action on the gridiron and we all got into the fast and furious routine of games in every direction. Now, we take a deep breath as we stare at the same one game slate we see every year at this time. It’s Army vs. Navy for one last regular season tilt before Bowl Season mania begins - let’s embrace the calm before the storm.

Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama are in the College Football playoffs, and 80+ teams are bowling which gets going next week, but before then…we pay tribute to the truest heroes on the football field. Let’s recap how the two service academies have fared as they head into the most important game of their seasons:

Army’s Season (5-6 overall, Away Team)

Army’s season started off terribly, and the 2-6 start was tumultuous and featured a three game stretch where they only scored 14 points. Everything flipped on a dime with their week nine win over fellow service academy Air Force, which surprised many and handed them their first loss of the season. The 23-3 victory spurred a three game winning streak that they take into this game. This is the exact type of Army team you remember, with one of the worst passing offenses and a top 10 rushing offense in the country. In short, the black knights are bringing predictable, smash mouth football that doesn’t light up the scoreboard.

Navy’s Season - (5-6 overall, Home Team)

Navy’s season was a rollercoaster that will have you shrieking, with little to no consistency to show at any point in the schedule. After a blowout loss to Notre Dame and a shutout to start the season, the rest of Navy’s schedule doesn’t have three wins or losses in a row at any point. They shut out three opponents completely, but also got embarrassed by SMU last week heading into this game. They also come in at 5-6. Statistically, they’ve outdone their opponent in a lack of offense through the air. Navy’s 99 yard passing average per game is ranked even lower than Army’s and they similarly have a top 20 rushing attack they will lean on. Hopefully you aren’t expecting a highlight factory on offense.

Breaking Down the Lines: Army-Navy

As you can imagine, the Over/Under point total is set stunningly low at 27.5, because they are two of the slowest, most anemic offenses in college football. Once in a blue moon you’ll get a play action pass and it will elicit an odd amount of excitement because of its rarity. In short, play the over at your own peril.

As for the game line itself, the Army Black Knights are currently listed as a slight 2.5 point favorite to beat the Navy Midshipmen, so it’s almost a coin flip who comes out on top. Add in the low score that’s likely to occur, and it explains why there’s little margin in the point spread. I’ll lean with the Army, and if the spread drops it could even be a money line selection either way.

Odds and Ends

For the first time in the history of this rivalry, the game will be played at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. I’m sure Bob Kraft paid a pretty penny for this game to be hosted here, and it is indeed a very patriotic themed stadium that should match the mood of the game nicely - we’ll also see a football win at Gillette Stadium for the first time in months.

Navy leads the all-time rivalry with a record of 62-54-7 thanks mostly to 14 years winning streak from 2002-2015, but Army has had recent success in this game and won last year’s meetup 20-17.

Best traditions leading up the game: the Prisoner Exchange and Drumline battle solidifies just how competitive and brotherly the rivalry is, and what other college football game has each student body marching on the field pre-game? It’s truly a spectacle and a bucket list attendance for sports fans. If your team’s song aka alma mater is performed second – the loser’s anthem is played first. Let the rivalry commence.